1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to portable structures, and in particular, to portable play or game structures which may be conveniently set up for use in a variety of different locations. The portable play structures may be folded or collapsed to reduce the overall profile of the structures to facilitate convenient storage and use.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An important consideration for all toys or play things targeted for children and adults is convenience. Relating to convenience, a toy must be easily transportable so that the user can move it around the home, or even to other places outside of the home. A toy must also be easily stored since an adult or child is likely to have many other toys or objects that compete for precious storage space in the home or in the car.
Larger toys often pose a greater problem with regards to convenience. The larger toys tend to be bulky, which makes it difficult to move them around the home, and sometimes makes it prohibitive to move them outside the house to other locations. Bulky toys also take up much storage space. For these reasons, many executive toys targeted for adults are made in small sizes.
Although there are executive toys that are related to a basketball game, these toys suffer from several disadvantages. First, many of these basketball toys require rigid portions (e.g., mounting brackets or hooks) for installation and set-up. For example, a currently-available basketball game structure provides a relatively rigid backboard with a rigid hook-shaped support that is adapted to hang from the top edge of a door. These rigid portions are not foldable or collapsible, thereby making the toy bulky and ill-suited for storage and transportation. In addition, the rigid nature of these rigid portions renders these toys inflexible for use in a variety of locations, since these rigid portions have a fixed shape and size that limit the objects or structures that they can be supported from.
Further, screws, bolts or nails are often needed to fixably couple the toy to a support structure, such as a wall. When the toy is detached from the support structure, holes and other damage to the support structure (e.g., wall) remain leaving an unsightly support structure. Moreover, because the toy is fixably coupled and not easily moved without substantial effort and damage to the support structure, the toy cannot flexibly adapt to the heights of different players. For example, in a home, a first basketball toy might be installed at a first height for the parents and adults, and a second basketball toy might be installed at a second height that is suited for the children. Two of these toys are needed because the player would rather pay the extra money to purchase a second toy than incur the cost and inconvenience of moving one toy between two different heights.
The requirement of bulky, rigid portions and screws indicate that these conventional executive toys are designed to be permanently installed in the office or home. In the design of these conventional toys, minimal thought, if any, appear to have been given to simplifying the process and time needed to remove the toy and to move the toy to a different venue. As noted earlier, if one desires to play with the basketball toy at a different venue or at a different location in the same venue, one must either purchase an additional toy for the new venue, or incur substantial effort and inconvenience in dismantling the toy from the current venue and in installing the toy in the new venue. Dismantling the toy often damages the walls and leaves unsightly holes in the support structure to which the toy was attached. Installing the toy requires tools and often invasively affects and alters the support structure. Of course, this entire burdensome procedure must be repeated to return the toy to the first venue.
Furthermore, not only is there substantial effort involved, but in certain instances and venues, it is not feasible or desirable to permanently install such toys with the attendant intrusion of the premises (e.g., drilling holes in the walls etc.). A guest's home, a hotel, a public place or any place where one is not free to affect the wall and premises, are all examples of venues in which it may not be feasible or possible to install these toys. Accordingly, these conventional toys suffer from the disadvantages of being inconvenient to install and remove, and not being easily stored or moved around.
The conventional basketball game described above has additional shortcomings. First, as in the example described above, these basketball toys depend on the engagement of a door frame and a closed door to hold the basketball hoop in place. When the door is open, the basketball hoop is not secured and cannot be used to play basketball. Thus, these toys can only be placed in limited locations in a home or office (i.e., these toys can be located only behind closed doors). Depending on the location of the door with respect to a wall and the room, the placement may not be ideal for play. For example, a door which is located near a corner may not be as accessible as a door which is located near the center of a wall away from corners of a room. Moreover, since the door frame is normally located at an adult's height, these toys may not be suitable for children who require a basket at their own height. These factors limit the overall usefulness of such toys.
Consequently, there remains a need for a basketball game toy that features a compact profile when collapsed, that is easily installed without tools and removed without damage to the support structure, that is easily transported between venues and between different locations in a particular venue, and that overcomes the disadvantages of existing basketball game structures discussed previously.